After I'm gone
by Luciendar
Summary: So this was a story I wrote once upon a time as a bed time story for my daughter. But then after finishing it questioned it's appropriateness for her lol. But it was a fun story and so I thought I'd share it on here. Thanks for reading and your comments in advance. Hope you guys like it.


The Kingdom of Ooo has always been a peaceful place. Its inhabitants always protected by a hero, Finn, dedicated to peace, justice, and fun. The young hero grew into a young man, and while having his many adventures fell in love with Princess Bubblegum. And for many years there relationship was left undefined. Yet, the young hero stood steadfast in his duty to protect the kingdom. But as the years passed and the Boy got older he was less satisfied with his relationship, or lack thereof, with the princess. While they had both acted fondly of one another neither would make a move, and as time passed they even dated other people. There was a brief time, due to a horrible tragedy, that the princess grew younger, and for that time they were the same age. But due to the politics of the kingdom there union, which both had eagerly awaited, was put aside so that she could return to her rightful age and rule the kingdom. And in doing so, returned to an attitude of thinking that perhaps the young hero was too, young and immature to be with her. Heartbroken, he remained, and for some time he soldiered on with his faithful companion Jake the dog. Unfortunately, the danger they faced on a day to day basis made Jake's wife distressed, and he was forced to choose between his family and his best friend. The choice was the hardest he had ever made in his life, but in the end, he could not desert his family and so… Fin was left… alone.

Upon his fifteenth birthday, Fin confronted Princess bubblegum about his feelings. About the bond they shared, he could no longer take the uncertainty between them, he could no longer stand, being alone. But he did not get the answer he so hoped for. The eighteen year old Bubblegum simply gave him a hug and a small laugh, and explained that she was too old to be in such a relationship with a child. That if she was to date it had to be with a man, someone she could potentially marry who would become the King of the Candy Kingdom. Finn protested that she doesn't age normally and that he could even pass her in age. She just brushed off his argument and stated that nothing is certain, and while she did love him, it simply couldn't be, at least not now.

A heartbroken hero, alone, and unnoticed continued his weary work until it seemed as if he had defeated all of the great threats the Land of Ooo hand to offer. And at that point he became something he'd never been before, unneeded. He felt that his life now had now point, and he drifted into despair. His many friends in the Land of Ooo tried to reassure him and keep his spirits up, but what is a hero with no villain. He decided that he would become stronger so that whenever a threat appeared he would be ready and devoted his life to training, and moved from kingdom to kingdom training, and running…from Bubblegum. But still she would contact him for little things here and there as if nothing had happened. His woe only grew as the hole in his heart felt like it would swallow him whole. And yet, she would find him, no matter where he went in the land, and he would see her, or hear of her.

Finally, desperate for some space he retreated into Marceline's home, hoping that here at least, he could get some peace from the rest of the world. Months did pass, but unfortunately the young hero was discovered when Bubblegum herself stopped by to see if Marceline could help her track Finn down. Outraged by this turn of events he shouted at her. Why, why couldn't she simply leave him alone?

She never expected such words to come from her dear friends mouth and felt the tears well into her eyes, she hadn't even realized until then that he had been avoiding her.

"Are we not friends Finn, can I not seek you out when I miss you?" she asked.

His words caught in his throat, he wasn't sure if he should be hurt or angry that she didn't understand how he felt. "No, I guess we aren't. I can't be JUST your friend. Not when I feel the way I do about you. I love you PB, and because of that I can't JUST be your friend."

The pain showed on her face as he watched her run out of the house with tears streaming down her eyes. He knew that he had hurt her. Maybe a little part of him thought that hurting her would make him feel better, but it didn't, it just filled him with even more loneliness.

Bubblegum was in turmoil on her flight home. How had she been so foolish to not realize that Finn had been avoiding her? He had always been there, whenever she had needed or wanted anything. Why did she simply overlook the fact that for the past few months he had simply not been there? She was a woman of science such small things are obvious to her, and such emotions were unbecoming of her. Yet the pain she felt in her chest had nothing to do with science.

For the next few weeks she racked her brain to explain her feelings. But in the end she realized there was no scientific explanation, that the truth was, she had simply never conceived that a day would come that Finn wouldn't be there by her side. She realized that she had taken him deeply for granted. And the pain she felt in her heart, she knew it wasn't simply a friend she had lost, but a man, albeit a young man, that she loved. When deciding how to tell him, she saw a flyer in the castle courtyard for Marceline's new band. Finn was a member, it said that they would be playing the groups farewell show outside the Candy Kingdom late that same day. Then and there she decided that she would find Finn at the show and tell him how she felt.

Later that day she went to the forest as the music she began to play. The stage was surrounded by people from all over the world coming to see the show. Marceline was up front on her bass that she loved so much and singing her heart out, while Finn was playing backup guitar. Assorted friends played with them, but all she saw was Finn. Any uncertainty that she may have felt disappeared the moment she had seen him up there. The boy that she had taken for granted, the man that she wanted by her side, now and forever. As the night went on she struggled to make her way to the front of the crowd. He hadn't seemed to notice her, but that wasn't surprising considering the swarm of people. Their music was electric, it was raw and on fire with emotion. You could tell that they were putting their heart and souls into every note. When finally she made her way to the front.

His eyes fell upon here and for a moment she was terrified, when last they parted it was not on kind words. But he simply looked to Marceline and nodded his head. After the song ended Marceline stepped up to the mic and spoke to the audience.

"Are you all having a good time," the audience roared in reply to Marceline.

"Good, but this is our last song, it's a farewell to all of you here in Ooo, but I won't be singing this song, cause it's not my farewell," she spoke as she looked at Finn.

Bubblegum's mind reeled, now she understood what it meant by farewell performance. Finn was leaving the Candy Kingdom. She rushed to the stage and tried to say something but the first chord drowned out her pleas. But she knew that the lyrics Finn sang now weren't really meant for Ooo, they were meant for her.

" _I'm sorry that I can't be your hero,  
I guess that means we're through.  
I'm sorry I can't change my feelings  
I'll always feel like this for you  
I'm sorry that I'm not older  
would that be better for you  
isn't that why you treat me this way  
I must be such an annoyance for you_

 _Well,  
I'm just your proooblem,  
I'm just your prooooblem,  
It's like I'm not even a hero  
am I,  
I'm just your proooblem_

 _Well,  
IIIIIII  
can't change myself for you  
and,  
IIIIIII  
would've done anything for you  
I'm sorry that I fell this way  
I wish there was something I could change  
but  
IIIIIII  
shouldn't have to prove anything to you  
but  
why do I want to  
why do I want to  
I'm just you're problem_

With tear filled eyes Finn looked at Bubblegum before singing the last verse. But all of her pleading just got drowned out.

 _So I,  
guess I'll just disappear_.

And where he stood a puff of smoke appeared and after it cleared…he was gone.

Several years have passed since then and the Candy Kingdom has lived on peacefully. She ruled as would be expected of her, but with one exception. The heart that once loved science and her people…and Finn, disappeared in that puff of smoke. Many friends had come, and they all did their best to console Princess Bubblegum, but to no avail. And eventually all of the alliance she had carefully built over the years, the cloud kingdom, the berries, and the flame, all fell apart, one by one. Only Lady Rainicorn stayed by her side.

She shaken as the door flung open to her throne room and looked up to notice a guard bursting through the doors, with a single gumball in his hand. Princess, it's the gumball guardian, he is dead. Suddenly Bubblegum found herself sitting up, finally awake after all these years of miserable peace.

"Who dares attack the Candy Kingdom," PB commanded.

"It's the son of the Lich your majesty, he has come for his father's grimoire and to destroy this kingdom," Peppermint butler cried.

Thoughts streamed through Bubblegum's mind. The Lich has a son? With or by whom? And where did this son come from and why now?

None of which mattered. "Assemble the troops," PB shouted.

Minutes later she was down in the armory with all of her forces, the paltry few that remained. She couldn't blame them for leaving, her rule the past several years had left much to be desired, and even she knew that.

"The hour is late and our enemy is presumed to be powerful and wants us all dead, we must march out and face him in battle," Bubblegum cried.

They shook with fear, already having heard of the gumball guardian's defeat. Yet, they grabbed weapons, and stood ready. As we all faced the gates, which lie in ruins, Bubblegum faced a boy who looked far too a candy person. He had a pale complexion to him, but he certainly had candy hair, and his fingers weren't bones but sharp candy.

She shouted to the boy, "Who are you, and why are you here?"

The boy smiled and replied, "You don't recognize your own son, some mother you are?"

At the boy's words Bubblegum took a step back, there was no way that could be true but…he did look like her in a way and, he was a candy person. She no longer held the battle hardened certainty she had moments ago and ordered her troops to fall back.

"I knew that you couldn't harm me, and now I'll destroy you and your kingdom. I heard that your hero left, and I watched as your allies slowly abandoned you. I knew that this was my chance to strike," the boy chuckled from pleasure.

"While it may or may not be true that I am your mother. I cannot let you harm my kingdom, and if I must die to prevent that I will," she said, hoping that my words held resolve that her heart didn't.

He laughed and walked past her. Bubblegum just stood there as he began to destroy the kingdom she had practically already abandoned. But her people needed her, and perhaps her life would suffice the boy whose power rippled off of him. She could tell that she stood no chance against him. So she ran in front of him and fell to her knees.

"I beg of you," Bubblegum cried, "please do what you will with me, but don't hurt my people. I couldn't bare it."

The boy looked shocked, but he just turned his head and walked on saying only that, "my father would surely kill me if I hurt you princess."

This made no sense to her so she shouted after the boy, "Why? Why would the Lich care if you killed me?"

He laughed, "I may have been sired by the fusion of your candy and the Lich's magic, but neither of you are my parents. My parents are good people who fight to destroy evil, like me."

Now nothing this boy said was making sense. Was he calling himself evil or was he saying he fought evil, " I don't understand, if your father and mother fight evil then why are you here destroying a peaceful kingdom."

For the first time the boys eyes lost his sense of amusement and became cold as he turned back and stared into her very soul.

"Because you witch, you hurt my father, you gave him a wound that can never heal," the boy said.

And the way he said it made her sure that he wanted nothing more than her life. Yet, he wasn't going to hurt her.

"So then why do all this," she pleaded with him.

"NO!" he yelled, "these are the things that you hold most precious, and I shall take every one of them from you until you are left empty like you left my father."

Suddenly she had only one left in her heart and mind too say, "I have treasured nothing since the day Finn left." She felt bad for saying it, but the moment the words left her lips that it was the truth, from the bottom of her heart.

In the blink of an eye the young boy appeared before her and slapped her. The slap was so hard that she rolled on the ground and had to collect herself.

"I thought you weren't to harm me," she spoke only in confusion.

"Never speak that name," he growled through clenched teeth, "you lost the right to say his name a long time ago."

Something clicked in all of the things the boy had been saying up unto this point. And she let tears fall from her eyes as she looked at the boy, noticing for the first time a very familiar grass sword on his arm.

"What did you say were you parents' names," Bubblegum asked.

"I didn't," the boy said angrily.

"Please," she begged him on her knees now, pulling on his arm.

"My father's name is Finn, the forgotten hero, and my mother is Marceline, the heir to the demon," he said angrily and shrugged her off. "Mother and Father found me as they traveled through the universe looking for evil. After a long discussion they decided to raise me as their own. I have always felt the pull of darkness, but this is the first and last time I will ever give into it. Because now I am serving the greatest justice of my heart, taking revenge on the woman who scarred my father's heart."

Bubblegum found herself speechless. So much new information and she had no time to process it as the boy was readying to attack. He had pulled out the grass sword and was ready to strike. He used his dark power from the Lich to make it grow until it could destroy all her kingdom in one fell swoop. And as he started his swing she knew that she'd never be able to reach him in time. But the moment before the blade scratched the first house it stopped, and out from behind the structure came a man dressed in leather battle gear. He had stopped the giant sword with just two fingers by pinching the blade.

"This is not how you use your power son," the man stated.

Shocked Bubblegum stood there, unable to move, to speak, or even breathe. Was this striking man Finn?

"No father, this must be done. If I can wipe away the place that hurts you so then maybe you can finally smile for me and momma," the boy pleaded with his father.

A woman with matching leather combat gear, long black hair, and pale skin stepped out now, "Jake, you know better than this, and now you've made your father come back to the place he swore he would never return to."

"That's why I thought you wouldn't stop me," he muttered under his breath.

His mother smacked his head, "we are evil Jake, if we are to show the world that we can be more that this we can't make choice like this. No matter how much we may want to."

The woman who must be Marceline turned her head and glared at Bubblegum. Admittedly she still looked mainly the same, but there were some slight differences, but mostly it was the way she dressed and carried herself. At this point Bubblegum has to speak, she had to say something.

"Finn," she managed, "is that you?"

Finn turned his gaze to her. Years he was gone, and yet the pain he felt from her actions was still raw.

Years he had spent traveling the outer worlds, trying to find a purpose as a hero again. Not long after leaving the world of Ooo, he ran into Marceline again. She was hanging out at a dive on a long forgotten planet putting on a show. He had been paid by some of the planets inhabitants to get rid of the monster who was plaguing them, play such vile music and running all of their strawberries and tomatoes. He figured it had to be a vampire but it hadn't dawned on him that it could be Marceline until he got within earshot of the club.

She explained she had left Ooo not long after he did, that without him there it just wasn't fun anymore. As they talked and he told her of his travels she offered to come along and help, said that her universe was more fun with him in it.

Eventually they had grown close but it wasn't until they had found this floating mass of energy and candy just drifting through space that they became a family. Within the candy was this boy, he was already a few years old, how he had survived no one knew, but Marceline could tell it was the Lich's power and he would know Bubblegum's gum anywhere. It seems somehow when they banished the Lich from her so long ago that part of the two of them had broken off and drifted into the cosmos together and created this child.

They had spent the past few years raising him, going on their adventures, and teaching him how to be good and given him a family. Something they found that they both needed. Yet all this time, Finn had never realized that he had never truly smiled. Sure he had shown a grin once in a while. But even he was surprised at his son's words that he had never shown him a smile.

Finn walked up to the boy and wrapped him in his arms, "I'm sorry son, believe me when I say, you and your mother make me very happy."

Bubblegum could now see Finn's long golden hair was tied behind his back. It was really him. But she still couldn't find the words to say and could only mutter things to him.

"Finn… were you truly never coming back," she finally said.

Finn looked toward her but before he could speak Marceline interjected, "yes princess, we were never going to return. You know how he felt, and I know how he still feels. True love never dies."

There was a sound in her words that Bubblegum had never heard before, pain. How close had they become over the years? Bubblegum knew the boy had referred to them as his parents, but were they also together? The thoughts dizzied her.

As if she could read her mind Marceline answered her, "Yes, he and I are one. And I give him my everything, and he gives me all that he has left and you know what," she walked over and wrapped her arms around Finn and their son, "that's enough."

Seeing her one and only chance right here in front of her she couldn't stop herself, "Finn that night at the concert before you left I had come to tell you that.."

Finn cut her off mid-sentence, "Don't say it."

His words were cold and very direct.

"I know that you don't mean any harm, and I know that you must have been holding that in for a long time now. But just don't," he said trying to soften his voice.

He was very different now. More powerful than she could've ever dreamed he'd become, older of course, probably in his early twenties, commanding, and as handsome as he'd ever been. He was everything she'd ever wanted and more, and he could've been hers, if she'd just realized he was right all those years ago. She was barely 19 now, sure she could be his age overnight with the right candy pieces if she wanted to. But still, he was actually older now.

"Finn I…" Bubblegum tried to speak again.

Again Bubblegum was hit and fell to the ground. The fist was too fast for her to see it coming and only realized it was Marceline that did it as she rose to find Finn holding her back. Her vampire form starting to come out.

"You dare try and take him now!" Marceline shouted. "Now that he's older and stronger he's good enough for you, is that how it is?"

Bubblegum had no reply, she sat there speechless. That was exactly how it was. She had realized back then her mistake, but it was too late to have fixed things.

"Marci don't," Finn said as he pulled her back.

Tears streamed from Marceline's eyes as she yelled at Bubblegum now back in her human form, "You can't have him you hear me! He may always have a piece of him that loves you, but he isn't your hero anymore, he's mine. So just shut up and leave him alone."

Bubblegum rose to her feet, unconscious of her hand on her face. She slowly turned and walked away. Fynn pulled away from Marceline and followed her, the tears slowly fell down Marceline's face as she decided to let him go after her. She hugged her son tightly.

"Sometimes, a hero has to do the hard to the truly difficult things," she whispered to her boy.

Bubblegum found two arms wrapped around her as she stumbled back to her castle. He'd never been tall enough to do this before, and she'd never felt this safe, and secure. As he held he she sighed, and as she did all her strength left her and she nearly fell to her knees again.

"Whoa there PB, don't go falling for me now," he said with some of the old Finn lilt in his voice.

"Not funny," she said as she rested his head against chest, "I love you."

"I know," he replied, "when you were at the concert I knew what you were trying to say. But it wouldn't work. After all the years I learned something, that yes we loved each other. But our love was in fact a child's love. It was no less true, but I was just a child playing hero, trying to be your knight. And that's why it wouldn't work, I had to grow up one day, and then I wouldn't have had a place in your kingdom."

"But look at you, you are still a hero, and you're stronger than ever," she said looking up into his eyes.

"Yes, but if I had stayed I'd have never become this. I was empty. The Ice King defeated, and the Lich gone, we had defeated any and all who threatened your kingdom. You didn't need a hero anymore. Yes I ran from you, but really, I was running to discover who I was without you, outside the candy kingdom, outside of Ooo," Finn said.

"And," Bubblegum replied, "what did you find?"

Finn looked up into the sky and into the setting sun, "I found… me. I'm a hero," saying that he smiled.

"Look at that you can smile," she said.

"It would be you to teach me to smile again," he laughed.

"It's only fair since I was the one who took your smile away in the first place," she replied.

They just stood there for a while. He held her and she relaxed in his arms.

They parted ways sometime after that. Both of them finally able to take a step forward with their lives now. Both of them, finally gaining a little closure.

"Well did you find what you were looking for," Marceline asked Finn while floating and tuning her guitar.

"What do you mean, I found you so long ago," he said back to her. And for the first time in so long, he smiled at her and his son, from the bottom of his heart.

Marceline flew to him, wrapped her arms around him and softly punched his chest, "big dummy."

"Daddy!" their young son Jake yelled, as flew and hugged his parents.

"I love you both," Fynn said, "now Jake, do you wanna see where daddy grew up?"

His son nodded his head eagerly. And the family walked off to a familiar treehouse where a young boy and his dog once lived.


End file.
